I was just suggesting to friends on Facebook that we need to figure out ways to nurture participatory and live-performance arts in a culture of “efficiency,” commuting, and commodification. My friend Patrick asked more of what I was thinking, here’s what I said:
“I did some small group shape note singing this summer which was the most fun. So, obviously, just do it is one important thing. But policy-wise, everything is so interrelated.
“At the risk of two much information, here’s my two cents: Public transportation; arts education in public schools; nurturing families of all sorts, since our loved ones are often the vehicle for passing on arts as a shared experience.
“Out where I live [in the suburbs], improvements in town planning including cohousing and others that facilitate informal and intergenerational interaction would all go a long way, as well as subsidising arts venues that can get easily overwhelmed by seemingly unrelated regulations–like the cost of a modern sprinkler system in a dive bar that happens to be a center for local music acts.
“Cities that haven’t destroyed their pedestrian and human-scale infrastructure have a big advantage in forming critical masses for the arts.
Even forms that we consider “country,” like bluegrass music, I’m told developed in amazing ways as “old time” musicians met as they sought jobs and found practice and performance venues in mill towns and other cities in twentieth century America. The growth of blues from the Delta into cities like Chicago is another example. “
I’d love to hear what others think, either as comments here or post links to your own blog posts or good urls.
